Import files to your Mac from a hard drive

If your new Mac is a replacement for an older Mac, or you’re switching from a Windows PC, the odds are that you’ve accumulated a library of documents, photos, videos and files that you’d like to move onto your new Mac.

If you’ve stored your files on an external hard drive, migrating them to a new Mac is simple. First, connect the drive by USB.

Locate your external hard drive

External hard drives can be accessed from several places on a Mac:

● A hard drive desktop iconDouble-click the USB hard drive icon to open up a Finder window and browse its contents.

● Under Devices in the Finder SidebarClick Finder > Devices to see a small icon of the external hard drive when plugged in. Click to select it and show its contents in Finder.

When the external hard drive files are visible in Finder, you have several ways to move them to your Mac’s own built-in hard drive

Drag and drop your files

Click the mouse button, then drag the selection rectangle around the files you wish to move and release the mouse button.

To select all the files, press Cmd + A. Position the mouse cursor over one of the highlighted files, then click and hold the mouse button.

The cursor will change to show the number of files selected. Still holding down the mouse button, drag the files from the external USB drive to your Mac’s Documents folder.

Copy and paste your files

On the USB hard drive, use the mouse to select the folder or file you wish to copy. Then select Edit > Copy (filename). Next, open the location you wish to copy the file to, then select Edit > Paste to move a file copy to that location.

It’s a good idea to place items in similar folders on your Mac – for example, you can move all the Documents files into the Documents folder on the Mac.

When finished, eject the drive safely from your Mac. It’s never a good idea to just unplug the drive without ejecting it first. Always click the Eject button on the Finder Sidebar next to the drive icon.